MINU director nominated to RGUHS Senate

The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences here has reconstituted its senate and syndicate, including the appointment of Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, Director of Manipal Institute of Nephrology and Urology (MINU), for a 3 year tenure starting June 12.

Speaking to the Express, Dr Ballal expressed his gratitude to the government for the nomination and expressed his concern for medical education in the state.

Criticising the inadequate number of PG seats for MBBS graduates, Dr Ballal said, “There is a lack of opportunity after MBBS. Young doctors are frustrated as there are very few PG seats available.” Dr Ballal appreciated the RGUHS' efforts in starting PG courses in areas like Emerg e n c y Medicine and Nephrology and hopes even more career opport u n i t i e s are created for MBBS graduates.

He admitted that owing to the duration of medical courses, the number of students taking up medicine as a profession has reduced.

“We need to change mindsets.

We must motivate talented students to become doctors because we need efficient professionals,” Dr Ballal added.

He recently became one of the few Indians to have been awarded an honorary FRCP without having worked or trained at a UK hospital. A graduate of the Kasturba Medical College, Dr Ballal set up MINU at Bangalore, which is credited with the first kidney transplant in the state.

According to a notice on the RGUHS website, other health professionals selected as senate members by RGUHS include Dr Girish Galagiri (MDS, Gulbarga), Dr T Jayanti (KIMS Bangalore), Dr KC Raju Reddy (Bangalore), Dr HS Ramya (KIMS Bangalore).

The Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor have also appointed six members amongst persons having special interest in Health Sciences.

These include Dr Sriprakash KS (MOH, Bangalore), Dr B C Bhagwan (KIMS, Bangalore), Dr Mohan Alva (Alva’s Education Foundation, Moodbidri), Dr Gurushankar (BMCRI, Bangalore), Dr Kamini Rao, (BACC, Bangalore), Dr M Srinivas (MMCRI, Mysore).